it's obviously night time here in japan. all day they've been working on this reactor and trying to assess the cause of this explosion and extent of what happened there. the prime minister came out on television and one of the first things he said was for people to remain calm, saying the safety of those people around the reactor is of, quote, utmost priority to the government. they are saying now that the reactor itself is in tact and that radiation levels coming down. earlier, after that explosion, some four, five hours ago, reports were that levels were eight times higher than they should be outside and the radiation level, a thousand times higher than is normal inside there. dan. >> and with the government going on television and trying to tell people not to panic, what is your sense about whether it's working? >> reporter: well, as i say, we are quite a distance away from there. but people who we've spoken to from the tokyo area, for instance, have said this was an earthquake of five minutes in duration, they've never e